Introduction: Drawing on existential psychology we examine the possibility that specific phobias can serve a psychological function. Specifically, we propose that phobic objects allow individuals to focalize anxieties about haphazard existential threats into a more manageable form, reducing perceptions of risk and bolstering control. Method: We tested this by assessing perceived control among participants with varying levels of spider fear who were reminded of chaotic hazards (or not) and exposed to spiders images (or not). Results: Study 1 (N = 940) found that among those high in spider fear, salient uncontrollable threats (vs. controllable threats or uncontrollable non-threats) reduced feelings of control unless participants were exposed to their phobic object. Similarly, exposure to spider (vs. non-spider) images bolstered perceived control in the face of salient hazards, but only for those high in spider fear. A second preregistered study (N = 1349) found that the palliative effects of focusing on a phobic object were partially explained by a decreased concern with haphazard harms. Discussion: This supports the premise that phobic objects help to maintain control by narrowing the source of disordered risks, creating a more controllable conception of reality.

中文翻译：

---

特定恐惧症：面对混乱威胁时保持控制

简介：我们利用存在主义心理学研究特定恐惧症是否可以发挥心理作用。具体来说，我们建议恐惧对象允许个人将对偶然存在威胁的焦虑集中到更易于管理的形式中，从而减少对风险的感知并加强控制。方法：我们通过评估具有不同程度蜘蛛恐惧的参与者的感知控制来测试这一点，这些参与者被提醒（或没有）混乱危险并暴露于蜘蛛图像（或没有）。结果：研究 1 (N = 940) 发现，在蜘蛛恐惧程度高的人中，显着的不可控威胁（相对于可控威胁或不可控非威胁）会降低控制感，除非参与者暴露于他们的恐惧对象。同样，接触蜘蛛（vs. 非蜘蛛）图像增强了面对突出危险时的感知控制，但仅限于那些高度恐惧蜘蛛的人。第二项预先注册的研究 (N = 1349) 发现，专注于恐惧对象的缓解作用部分可以通过减少对偶然伤害的关注来解释。讨论：这支持了这样一个前提，即恐惧对象通过缩小无序风险的来源来帮助维持控制，创造一个更可控的现实概念。